Floor plan

South wing: ThemesStill Life

Still Life

Still Life with Shells and a Chip-Wood Box, by Sebastian Stoskopff, late 1620s
A work made of oil on canvas.
Basket of Fruit, c. 1830
Still Life with Fan and Roses, by Thomas Hovenden, 1874
Melons and Morning Glories, by Raphaelle Peale, 1813
The Killing of Three Warriors with Two Peaches, 202 BCE–220 CE
A work made of oil on linen canvas.
A work made of oil on panel.

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

A table, a vessel, a few things arranged under a window: still life gave painters a subject they could control completely, and they used it to test light, texture and the passing of time. The genre's quiet surface often carries a moral about abundance and decay.

North wall

  1. Still Life with Shells and a Chip-Wood Box, by Sebastian Stoskopff, late 1620s
    Still Life with Shells and a Chip-Wood BoxSebastian Stoskopff, late 1620sCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. A work made of oil on canvas.
    The Vase of TulipsPaul Cézanne, c. 1890Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Basket of Fruit, c. 1830
    Basket of FruitUnrecorded American maker, c. 1830Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Still Life with Fan and Roses, by Thomas Hovenden, 1874
    Still Life with Fan and RosesThomas Hovenden, 1874Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

East wall

  1. Melons and Morning Glories, by Raphaelle Peale, 1813
    Melons and Morning GloriesRaphaelle Peale, 1813Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. The Killing of Three Warriors with Two Peaches, 202 BCE–220 CE
    The Killing of Three Warriors with Two PeachesUnrecorded Chinese maker, 202 BCE–220 CECourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. A work made of oil on linen canvas.
    Woman in Front of a Still Life by CezannePaul Gauguin, 1890Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  4. A work made of oil on panel.
    Still LifePieter Claesz, c. 1625Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

West wall

  1. Gathered in a round glass vase, a tall bouquet of flowers in shades of light and deep pink, sunshine yellow, and white with pine-green leaves nearly fills this vertical still life painting. Shown against an gray background, the vase sits on a narrow ledge, perhaps made of wood. A label with looping, cursive French text painted in gold against a baby blue background is affixed to the front of the ledge, along the bottom edge of the composition. The text reads, “C'est l'Angelicq main du grad Peinctre de Flore AMBROISE, renommé jusqu' au Rivage Moré.” A few of the flowers draw the eye, including a tulip and iris at the top of the bouquet. To our left, the tulip is mauve pink with cream-colored streaks, and one petal folds down to reveal the stamen inside. Next to it, a damselfly, an insect like a delicate dragonfly, rests on the vibrant yellow iris. The petals curling down from the iris are veined in muted burgundy red. Flowers filling in the bouquet below include a shell-pink cyclamen, a white gardenia, a closed blue and white striped columbine, a slate-blue grape hyacinth, lily of the valley, pale blue forget-me-nots, and a pink peony interspersed with leaves and greenery. The round glass vase has a narrow opening. A sprig of viola rests to our left of the vase on the ledge, and an orange, black, white, and brown butterfly perches on the stem of a pink cyclamen laying to our right of the vase. The artist signed the painting with a monogram and dated it in dark paint to our right on the face of the ledge: “AB 1621.”
    Bouquet of Flowers in a Glass VaseAmbrosius Bosschaert, 1621Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Roses in a Vase, 1880/1900
    Roses in a VaseUnrecorded French maker, 1880/1900Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. A work made of oil on panel.
    Trompe-l'Oeil Still Life with a Flower Garland and a CurtainAdriaen van der Spelt, 1658Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  4. A bouquet of flowers against a dark brown background hangs from a sapphire-blue bow to fill this vertical still life painting. The three largest blooms make a pyramid at the center. A pale pink, flat-leaved carnation is to the lower right of this trio. A red and white striped tulip with flame-shaped petals is next to it, to our right, and a white viburnum bloom, which is made of dozens of smaller clusters, is above. A tan-colored spider builds a web at the center of these three blossoms. Using the face of a clock to work around this trio, we find a spotted bug on a smaller viburnum and some frosty green leaves at noon. A muted orange moth rests on a stalk nearby. Down the right side, the layered vivid blue petals of a love-in-the-mist explode like a starburst. Two coral-red peonies, a mostly closed peony, a topaz-blue morning glory, and the fuzzy fingers of amaranth bring us to six o’clock. Up the left side are delicate pink crab apple blossoms, a spray of Chinese lanterns, a yellow rose with ants crawling across its splayed petals, a striped morning glory, and a few blue, orange, and red buds. A caterpillar rears up on a Chinese lantern bud and a ladybug sits on a leaf nearby. A few stalks of wheat are scattered throughout. Stems weave through the blue ribbon at the top, which is tied around a protruding nail. The artist signed the lower left corner, “AB Mignon f,” with the AB conjoined in a monogram.
    A Hanging Bouquet of FlowersAbraham Mignon, probably 1665/1670Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

South wall

  1. Thomas Anshutz
    Factory--Study for "Ironworkers, Noontime"/Verso: Still Life with OrangeThomas Anshutz, (1880)Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution
  2. Still Life—Violin and Music, by William Michael Harnett, 1888
    Still Life—Violin and MusicWilliam Michael Harnett, 1888Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. A Woman Seated beside a Vase of Flowers (Madame Paul Valpinçon?), by Edgar Degas, 1865
    A Woman Seated beside a Vase of Flowers (Madame Paul Valpinçon?)Edgar Degas, 1865Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. The image shows a large cut watermelon in a woven basket surrounded by various fruits including grapes, peaches, and small round red fruits. The color palette includes greens, blues, oranges, and browns. The basket takes up most of the space and is filled with fruits, with grape clusters hanging above it.
    Fruit on a TrayUnrecorded American maker, c. 1840Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington